ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: My boyfriend really upset me recently. We made plans to go out to a restaurant that I've been looking forward to for weeks; it was special to me, and he knew how excited I was. The day before our reservation, he canceled because he "forgot" he had plans with a friend to go to some EDM event. Not only did he cancel at the last ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How do I respond to some common shaming I get from people I know?

For background, I am a female member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and have many dear friends who are members of other marginalized communities. My rights and the rights of the people I love are important to me.

Some people I know openly support politicians who ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have lost most of my family and many close friends, and I struggle with depression myself. There are days when the silence in my house feels almost too loud.

Over time, I have learned how to be alone without completely falling apart. I have a pet who has been a lifeline for me. This little creature depends on me, greets me at ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been married to a narcissist for 28 years. He has gaslighted me for our entire 30 years together. He has had a "work wife," a flirtation with the next-door neighbor hottie, and he paid for two sexy girls' dinners (and pies to go) because they happened to be in line in front of us.

After an argument, he even called the police on ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My colleague has a tendency to be unapologetically late, and I can't stand it! We've traveled together in the past for work, and I have seen firsthand how careless he can be with his time -- even for work functions.

We are more friends than colleagues now, so as I began planning a birthday trip for myself, I had to decide if I ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Why is tipping expected? I was under the impression that it was up to the customer. In my state, servers are paid minimum wage, so it's not a question of being underpaid.

And why am I expected to supplement a stranger's income? If you're not making enough money, get a different job! I'm so disgusted by this begging that I don...Read more

Dear Annie: If you had told me five years ago that I would fall in love with my ex-boyfriend's brother, I would have laughed you out of the room. And yet, here I am.

I dated "Mark" for two years. He moved into my home, and even after I ended the relationship, he stayed another six months because he had nowhere else to go. He is an alcoholic ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm a twice-divorced woman who has no children. I was raised by two deeply religious parents (now deceased) who attended church every Sunday and took me along. I regularly attended church until 15 years ago. At that time, my dad was dying, and I was dating a man I often had brunch and spent time with on Sundays. That man and I broke ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son has gotten ahold of my credit card information and has been using it excessively and without my permission. He is 23 years old. He has a job and lives on his own. This feels like a violation to me, but my husband thinks I am overreacting and that my son probably thought it was OK. From what I've gathered, it seems like he ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have two friends I see frequently, but they rarely see each other. When we all get together, inevitably one will start telling the other a story I have heard many times. Then the other will tell HER a story with which I am very familiar.

I've tried staring vacantly off into space, but it doesn't seem to be noticed. How can ...Read more

Dear Annie: My 11-year-old son, "Max," used to eat, sleep and breathe baseball. He wore his glove to the grocery store, slept in his favorite team T-shirt and spent hours in the backyard throwing a ball against the fence, narrating imaginary World Series games.

This year he finally made the local travel baseball team, which was supposed to be...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My daughter won't allow me to have a relationship with my toddler grandson without constantly interfering. Everything is "no." She says things like: "Don't bring him a toy every time you come over -- no more toys. No TV. Don't play the (kids) music too loud. No, he cannot go outside; there are bugs or it's too hot. Don't give him milk...Read more

Some fear rarely announces itself. It moves quietly, almost politely, and takes a chair in the corner of your chest and waits. Some days, I forget it is there. Other days, it stirs the cauldron of my stomach until I'm forced to account for it.

For most of my life, I believed bravery belonged to people who felt certain. Heroes in stories seemed ...Read more

Dear Annie: My stepson is 22 and autistic. For 12 years, he lived with us half the time and with his mother the other half. During those years, I was very involved in his life -- I went into his classroom to help with his needs, drove him to school and appointments, took him shopping and spent time just hanging out with him. I truly tried to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a teacher. I love my job, and I love my students. However, as I near the end of my 26th year of teaching, there's something I need to get off my chest. At the end of every school year, many parents ask me to write a personal note to their student as an inscription in a certain children's book. They request this of all of their ...Read more